Jay Gruden named coach of Washington Redskins

The face was different, the words familiar. Like Mike Shanahan and nearly every recent Washington Redskins coach, Jay Gruden is anxious to declare an end to franchise's days of dysfunction.

''I don't know what happened last year,'' Gruden said. ''I know that interviewing with Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen and everybody here that the passion for excellence is there. All they want to do is win, and they're going to provide me with every avenue to win.''

Gruden was introduced Thursday as the man charged with ending the perpetual state of turmoil the team has endured under owner Snyder and recently under general manager Allen.

Gruden was a given a five-year contact for his first NFL head coaching gig, taking over a 3-13 team that has finished last in the NFC East in five of the last six seasons.

Gruden is Snyder's eighth coach in 16 seasons as an NFL owner. Unlike Shanahan, who was fired last week, Gruden will not have final say over all football matters.

He'll report to Allen, who has taken charge of assembling the roster and other personnel decisions.

Harvin ready to go

Pete Carroll told Percy Harvin that the Seattle Seahawks were considering placing him on injured reserve to open up a roster spot ahead of the postseason.

Harvin's response: ''Coach, I'm ready to play ball.''

That conversation less than two weeks ago was the start of a return that took another significant step on Thursday when Carroll announced Harvin would play on Saturday against New Orleans in an NFC divisional playoff game.

Texans tab Vrabel

Third-year Ohio State defensive line coach Mike Vrabel is jumping back to the NFL to rejoin new Houston Texans coach Bill O'Brien.

Vrabel, who played at Ohio State and went on to a 14-year career in the NFL, will coach linebackers, he confirmed in a post on Twitter.

O'Brien, the coach at Penn State the past two years, had been a top assistant with the New England Patriots in 2007-08 when Vrabel was a player. Vrabel won three Super Bowls with the Patriots.